Are we all tired of the opposition yet?
Richard Gomez/Commentary Santa Ynez Valley News | Posted: Thursday, November 24, 2011
Last week the Santa Ynez Valley News published another commentary from a member of the tribal opposition group, Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO), berating the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians for attempting to do something simple: trying to place 1,400 acres of tribal-owned land into federal trust.
As I, Chairman Armenta and other members of our tribal leadership team have stated time and again, we would like build homes for tribal families on land under the jurisdiction of tribal government. It's a basic concept, but one that hasn't stopped a small group of individuals from spreading misinformation.
They first used the false statement that the tribe was trying to build a casino on the 1,400 acres of ranch land. We are not and have stated that numerous times, pointing out that not only was it not our desire, but it was also illegal. Federal law makes it almost impossible for a tribe to build a casino on land acquired after 1988.
Once their scare tactic of building a casino was debunked, they returned to their back-up scheme of attacking the tribe itself. These are the same individuals who have opposed virtually everything the tribe has done, including placing 6.9 acres next to the reservation into trust. We want to build a museum, cultural center and park on the land.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the "fee to trust" transfer. But the fate of the land has been tied up in court because the opponents have been able to use the legal system to create one delay after another.
Now they are at it again, distorting the tribe's goals for our 1,400 acres, a parcel of land known as "Camp 4." In last week's op-ed, "Challenging tribal plans for Camp 4 property," POLO member Kathy Cleary wrote that "the community is abuzz with the latest regarding Camp 4."
It's more like the community is at a boiling point. County residents and business owners are tired of the hostility and bait-and-switch tactics of the tribal opponents. When we held our public meeting in September to explain the facts, individuals from across the county told us that they were frustrated that a handful of people continue to claim to speak for the community, when they don't truly represent the community.
As a result of the frustration from the community over these opponents, we and our supporters have started to collect signatures and letters of support.
This has so riled up the opposition groups that they have resorted to attacking the democratic idea of collecting signatures and to arguing that any such support for the tribe can't be valid. The groups don't want admit that the Chumash have support in the Santa Ynez Valley and across the county.
Likewise, they have attacked the Santa Ynez Chumash as being nonexistent, despite the tribe's status as a federally recognized Indian tribe.
But the tribe and its supporters aren't going away. So we suggest that this small group of tribal opponents get used to the idea that the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians will continue to work on doing the right thing - for our tribal membership and for the community at large.
Please show your support at
Richard Gomez is the vice chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.